The Boy Next Door
by ChocoboHead
Summary: Tifa's childhood in Nibelhim...after falling into a gorge and having Cloud jump down after her she begins to see her next door neighbor a little bit differently.
1. Chapter 1

It's time for my story now. This is the story of my childhood in my old hometown and my _best friend_…of course…the boy next door.

My name is Tifa Lockhart; I am currently twelve years old. I have black hair and dark eyes. In my opinion, I'm _too_ short for my age and am far _too_ flat chested. I dunno, maybe I'll grow up…or I could just stay this way forever… (That sucks.)

I live in a small town called Nibelheim along with a large group of friends, my father, and Zangan—my martial arts instructor. My mother died when I was eight years old and…do you know about all that Lifestream stuff? Yeah…I think that maybe my mother's spirit might have passed through the mountains…and that's where our story begins…where I started to open my eyes a tiny bit more…

"Tifa…? Are you sure this is all safe? I mean, _Mt. Nibel_…"

My so-called friend…at the time she _was_ my _best bud_… but you'll find out what happens with her later…

"Absolutely!" I said excitingly, "My mother has to be there! The highest point close to here is Mt. Nibel!"

"But Tifa…it's so _dangerous_!" She cocked her head to the backward so her short red hair flopped back.

This was only our planning point, we weren't even close to the mountains…maybe we'd get a chance tomorrow…

"She has a point Ti…You don't seem to be cut out for this stuff…what if you fall? We _might_ not be able to help you…"

My other friend…I knew her from martial arts and stuff…I was a year ahead of her with that but…well…she had stopped growing…and she wouldn't ever let me forget it…

"_You're just jealous!_ Of course I'm cut out for this stuff!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Well…I'm with Tiffa…"

I smiled at her…she was the youngest and shyest kid in the bunch. I'd known her since she came to our school and I was kind of her "body guard" through her first year there…she had bullying issues because of her lisp.

"Why thank you," I cheered as I patted her on the back, "I always knew you were the bravest out of these two cowards."

I watched her beam with pride, "I know I'm th'afe with Tiffa, you can do anything."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks."

After a few minutes of arguing on this fact we all decided we'd leave together to go to Mt. Nibel in the morning so we'd all be back in time for dinner. Of course, we would all go secretly…like my father would let me do this—even if I asked him to go with me.

"Well Tifa, I have to go home…it's getting dark."

"Yeah."

"Yup. Yup."

I watched them all head home. I didn't need to go home; I was already here! I stared at the front door for a while and decided I didn't want to go in…I turned and sat on the front step and gazed at the purplish sky.

The first stars were just coming out; they always seemed to trigger many memories. "Mother…_Momma_…I hope I'll find you tomorrow…_I have to find you_…" I sat there in the quiet, listening for the bugs to start chirping…I watched the moon get higher and thousands and thousands of stars started to come out of their hiding spots.

I rubbed at my arms…it got so cold here in the evenings…

Then, as if almost on cue:

"Tifa," my father called from inside, "I see you there; come inside or else you'll get a cold."

"Coming Father," I yelled back.

* * *

I took a final glance at the sky before I turned back to go inside the house.

My eye caught sight of the hair before my brain did.

I muffled my scream so it came out in a short squeak. I watched the blonde head pop out from under his windowsill.

"C-Cloud! Were you watching me?!" I accused, pointing a finger.

"_Heh…uh…hi_," he waved a hand quickly, "…please _just forget_ that you saw me…"

He mumbled those last words as he sunk quietly back under the window. I laughed at that.

"What?" He muttered, not coming up.

"You're just funny that's all…"

"_I'm glad I amuse you_." His voice sounded utterly embarrassed—or it could've just been annoyed…

I giggled, "You're funny, Cloud."

Cloud was the boy who lived next door to me. He's one year older than me, but I'm two inches taller than him. (_Yay, I'm taller than someone here!_) I've known him from since…I don't know when…he's always seemed to live next to me really. We weren't ever really _that_ close.

Hey! Don't get any ideas! I don't like him like _that_!

That's when I decided to go inside; I shut the door quietly behind me.

* * *

"Flirting with the neighbor boy?" Father asked as he invited me to sit next to him.

"You know I don't like Cloud like that!" I said as I sat down.

"I know, I know…" he smiled, "I'm just glad I can trust that kid…not like your other friends…"

"Father!" I yelled and he pulled on my leg.

I laughed, "Just pullin' my leg, huh?"

"You bet."

I enjoyed my conversations with my father he always talked about interesting stuff…Lifestream…Ancients…materia…martial arts…machines…anything you can think of really…but after today's long conversation I remembered I had to leave early tomorrow…

"Father, I'm sorry…but I'm so tired…" I mumbled, rubbing my eye with a fist.

"Okay Tifa…_but_ don't rub your eyes like that or you'll need glasses."

"'Kay…" I grumbled, faking a yawn.

He yawned too—for real. "Good night, Tiffs…"

"Night."

I thumped to my room and leapt onto the bed; I didn't bother to change my clothes tonight…I could do that in the morning. I tried to shut my eyes but sleeping was useless so I lay there all night in a strange state of mind…not asleep…but not awake either…All I could think about was Mother…I'd get to see her tomorrow…I had to!

* * *

The next day when I walked out the door, I stood there in silence to think. I was tired, I was confused, and I was…

_Crash!_

It came from next door. I smiled to myself as I walked around the neighbor's house and tapped on the back window. The tween opened the window with his pants halfway zipped and his hand stuck to his hair.

He screamed and slammed the window down in my face.

"Having trouble getting dressed, Cloud?" I asked with a smirk through the pane.

"…_yeah_…" He said reluctantly as I heard another crash in the background. When he stuck his head out again he was fully dressed. "S-so, what's up?"

"I just have to be somewhere today," I said, "_so don't bother me_."

He shrugged and said, "Yeah…me too." Shutting the window, that was the last of our conversation I turned and walked to the spot where I planned to meet my friends.

"Tiffa! I'm here! I came, th'ee?"

She was the first one to show up, happily running, with her light brown curls flopping in two sloppy pigtails.

Next to show up was my neighborhood friend; I could see her bright hair from a mile away…

"Tifa…are you sure you can do this?" She asked, patting my arm.

"Of course."

All three of us waited for about a half an hour before we decided the last person that was supposed to come wasn't coming…

"Oh well," I said with a sigh, "her loss."

We started up the path to Mt. Nibel. We walked about a few miles…

"Ti-fa…my feet hurt!"

"Tiffa, I'm thir'thy..."

"Well maybe you shouldn't have come if you weren't ready…" I accused.

"Okay, I'll stay here!" My oldest friend pouted, violently shaking the fire she had for hair.

"Well fine," I grumbled shrugging.

And we left her there…I continued to follow the path to the mountain as my most loyal little friend tagged along behind me. We actually made it almost all the way to the mountain.

That is until we got up to that rope bridge…

It was a rickety old thing that barely looked like it was able to hold a squirrel…I stared at it for a moment before going stubbornly towards it.

"Tiffa, I'm th'cared. I don't wanna go on that thing!"

"Then don't," I said with a grin, "I'll cross and you can wait here."

"I'm th'orry Tiffa…but maybe it'th be'th I head back…I don't know how long you might be up there…"

"Okay…" I said with a sad smile, I really believed she could've did this…oh well, "…go, have a nice walk down."

Moreover, she didn't walk…she ran. _Downhill_…

I shrugged her off and started carefully across the unstable-looking rope bridge.

It felt like such a long bridge…I reminded myself that I shouldn't look down but I did anyway—just for kicks. The gorge below seemed so far away…a long, long drop…I breathed slowly and tried to keep my footing.

I felt like I was going pretty well along this thing…gently inching my feet steadily to each rope.

"Giant hole below…" I whispered to myself, "…no big deal…"

_One foot in front of the other_…_just like the winter special…_

There was one spot on the bridge where the rope had snapped…_maybe if I leaned forward and took a large step…_

I lost my footing and I was left dangling by my right leg because luckily my foot was twisted in the rope…I tried to swing the rest of my body up so I could climb the rest of the way up but as soon as I tried that I felt the rope loosen under my ankle.

"Help!" I screamed, "Somebody help me!"

"HELP!"

I looked wildly around for some sign that I'd survive today…there wasn't any.

"HELP!"

"Tifa!"

My head automatically flipped to see where the voice was coming from. And like magic, he was there…I don't know how in the world he was here but I felt a rush of relief fall over me.

"C-Cloud, help! Help me Cloud!" I yelled reaching my arm out as far as it'd reach. All I seemed to be catching was air. I watched him hastily try to cross the rope bridge as my foot slid out of the rope.

"CLOUD!" I screamed as I felt myself falling into the ravine.

That's when my adrenalin kicked in, you know, the 'Fight-or-Flight' thingy? Well, obviously, there was no way I could choose 'Flight' because well, I was already flying at top speed through the air _to my death_…and well, I couldn't 'Fight' because my case was pretty much hopeless…but…

Cloud chose 'Fight.' (Well he could've choose 'Flight' but '_Fight'_ sounds so much braver)

I could only see his mouth yelling something I couldn't hear as I watched him jump after me down the gorge…_after seeing him do something like that…_

…_I never saw him as the same, dorky, boy-next-door ever again._

My body seemed to fall faster than expected…I felt the horrible pain against my skull first before my ears betrayed me.

_Crack!_

I felt a sharp tug on my wrist as I was being tugged up on something rough then my eyes betrayed me as well… everything went dark.

"Tifa…I'll go get help, okay?"

His voice was the last thing I heard...

* * *

**Okay, this is only the first chapter. I plan to follow up through their whole teenage lives...Yes, Tifa's three closest friends shall remain nameless and you might have noticed a different twist to this story...well you have to put a slight twist, right? I made Cloud and Tifa...childhood acquaintances? I guess that's what they were anyway... Yes, I don't own the main characters or else I'd have made Cloud a lot more...louder.**


	2. Chapter 2

Drifting

It seemed to be the only word to explain how I was feeling at the second…in and out of consciousness… I caught little fragments of conversation around me and they didn't seem so happy.

"_Honestly, she went on her own!"_

"_Liar!"_

Why was Father yelling at Cloud like that? Cloud was telling the truth! I wanted to speak up and say that, but it was like something was internally trapping me…holding me down so I couldn't talk…

"_She's dying thanks to you."_

"_Don't say that! SHE'S NOT! SHE'S NOT!" _I could hear Cloud's voice cracking, like he was gonna cry.

"_My daughter will be gone forever thanks to you."_

I'm dying. How…? Am I dead now?

I need a miracle. Why can't I talk? Ugh, everything hurts…especially my…_everything. _I'm fine, honest! Stop hurting him! He didn't do anything!

"_I'll protect her. I can promise you that, sir. I will get stronger…and I'll stay with her! And nothing—,"_

"_Get out."_

"_Sir?"_

"_Get out, now. And don't show your face around my daughter again."_

"_Yes. I'll do that."_

Don't go! Wait!

What I thought was only a few hours turned out to be longer. A whole lot longer.

Everything was spinning when I first opened my eyes…and it only gyrated quicker after my father felt the urge to squeeze out all the life left in me.

"Father…? What happened…? Is Cloud…?"

For some reason none of questions seemed to fully be voiced…and Father didn't seem to care either. He wasn't listening.

"You've been in a class III concussion…_I_ thought you weren't going to make it. I'll never let you out of sight again!" He made an emphasis of 'I' like he was with someone completely heartless.

"Father…?" I asked again, pursing my lips.

"What were you doing—?"

"Father!" I yelled, clenching my numb fists. "What happened to Cloud?"

He frowned and his temple creased. I watched as his face turned scarlet and then to a normal color. He did his best fake smile and said, "he's completely fine, no more than scarred knees…the little—," I couldn't make out the last word when he said it under his breath but I guessed it wasn't anything kind.

"Where is he?"

"Does that really matter?" He grumbled, faking a laugh, "he's not going to bother you anymore."

_Bother me?_ What was Father thinking?

I wasn't allowed to leave my room for about two more days. I got back into martial arts about a week later…All my friends tried to talk to me again but I sort of tuned them out and secluded myself from them especially the three that left me…yes, even the one with the lisp. There only seemed to be one that I wanted to talk to and he stayed all too true to his promise with my dad.

* * *

"Oi Cloud!" I yelled, waving my free arm in the air, "hey, hey! Wait up!"

The school we both went to was tiny. It was split up into three grades to each room; Cloud was in the room next door. I'd be in his class next year.

I struggled with the history book in my left hand as I tried to flag down Cloud with my right.

I knew he was pretending he couldn't hear me. I watched his back go straight and he appeared to be trying to kill the binder in his hand a ridiculously tight grip.

"Wait!" I gasped.

"Yeah?" He kept his back turned and his eyes averted from me. I was a bit taken back. The tone he used was bitter and it wasn't something that was normal for him.

I was also surprised how after that my voice only seemed to come out in a faint whisper.

"A-are you okay?" I asked lightly touching his arm, I felt the one of the muscles under the skin tighten, "Thanks for saving me. Without you I wouldn't be here now."

He shrugged me off, "that's not how it was fed to me."

"Huh?"

I stayed back where I was as he walked away from me. "J-just stay away from me." He waved his arms at me as if he were pushing me away.

"F-fine I will!' I tried to say it like I meant it but my voice faltered on me. I quickly made a joke before he was out of earshot.

"Just don't go cutting yourself, okay Cloud?" I yelled after him. For once, he turned around and made a face at me. I smiled at him; I knew he couldn't stay in that mood for long unless it was something really terrible.

"Ugh…I think my folks got rid of the knives in the house."

"Oh, that's too bad, huh?"

"Yeah, really terrible…"

He smiled at me before turning around, "Actually, I do have to be home early today." He frowned.

"What, do you have a haircut or something?" I pointed to the ponytail that was hanging about shoulder-length.

"_No_," he retorted, turning back to face me, "It's something very important!" He started pulling on his hair by habit.

"I was just kidding, it's cute."

"Ah…um," I watched his face turn a bright shade of crimson. I was expecting that; he turned blood red at any compliment really… "Thanks…uh…gotta go."

I watched him run off knowing that he wasn't going to break a promise to my father that easily but I fixed a good deal of the problem, didn't I? At least I knew a joke would snap him out of anger pretty quickly. He was the sarcastic type…I suppose that could work too.

* * *

CRASH

_BANG!_

"Cloudy! Where awww you?"

I should've known it was Sunnie. She was Cloud's cousin—over for a visit I guess. Yeah, I often wondered what was up with his family and the weather too…you aren't the first one!

I sat in the dark again behind my house listening to the ruckus. I glared up at the moon, hiding behind a few clouds. There weren't any stars tonight and it seemed that that was one of the few things that were bringing me down tonight.

Man, I need to get some more friends…Father expected me to be out tonight and I was happy that I wasn't discovered

"Cwoudy!"

I heard a high-pitched voice squeal and Cloud grunted as if he were hit by a few—thirty, thirty-five—pounds.

"Oh crap, crap, crap, crap…!"

CRASH!

"Cloud, what just broke?"

"Nothing!" "Nuffin'!" Both excuses were made at exactly the same time and Sunni automatically began to count again.

"One…two…thwee…five…elevendy…nine…ten! Cloudy! Where awww you?"

I watched as the light from the back window scattered on the dark ground. He landed with a dull thud in the dirt.

"Ow…what did I land on?!" He hissed to himself as he pulled what appeared to be a plastic chocobo toy out from under him. "Oh…Fluffy-kun…how'd you get out here? Did Sunnie leave you out here while I was at school?"

I smiled at how he still addressed toys like they were people, I was kinda glad I was invisible against my house so I could witness that without him getting embarrassed.

"Cwoud! Where awww you hiding?"

"Nowhere where you'll find me," he whispered in response. I watched him take out a notebook and a pencil with the eraser worn down.

"Homework?" I asked in a low voice.

"Nah…Sunnie colored all over it…I'm drawing now," he mumbled, etching his pencil up the paper.

"What'cha drawing?" I asked, sorta laughing because he still didn't notice me yet.

"Sunnie…she'll be really happy with it when she leaves tomorrow evening. I just need to get away from her for an hour…"

"Cloud, you draw?"

"Yeah, but don't tell anyone…" he seemed kinda distant from the world, you could probably ask him what color underwear he was wearing, and he'd tell you "…no one outside my family know that. I really do it for me, y'know?"

"I sing…" I mumbled softly, "now you know my secret talent too, 'kay?"

"Mmm…"

"Cloud, do you know who you're talking to now?"

He looked up for a moment with a blank look on his face…then it turned into a shock/embarrassed thing. "Crap," he whispered, his voice going an octave higher than normal.

"Cloudy!" A little voice yelled, "where awww you?!"

"Okay…crap," he grumbled, ducking under the window. "C-can I come over there?"

"Sure!"

He crawled over on his stomach with his notebook in hand. I listened to the back window slide open…he grimaced.

"I foundeded you!"

He quickly got up and I stayed put in the shadows. "Cloudy, Dada says if you don't get your…patucus…in the house right now there'll be…bad stuff…to pay."

"Okay, okay," he mumbled, "just get out of the window."

"'Kay!"

He waved as he went in through the window.

"Who're ya waving to? I don't see anybody!"

"She's invisible!"

"Really? Or did you just make it up?" I could hear the awe in her voice.

"She's real!" He made it sound almost like a fairy tale or something…I suppose he had a talent for making up stories.

"Bye guys!" I said from my spot where I couldn't be seen.

"Hewoo, invisible person!" Sunnie yelled.

I laughed, "_Hewoo_…"

When the window was tightly shut, I glanced down at the dirt between the two houses. He left both the notebook and the plastic chocobo behind; I picked them both up and decided I should come home from my long night out with my friends.

* * *

**Chapter 2 is up! Sorry for the wait but I was busy for the last few weeks...I promise I won't let you guys have to wait that long for a new ch, 'kay? I've also promised my friend I'd write a story for him so I look forward to that...Anyways...Yesh! Cloud would be a woman if I owned him and yadda, yadda...I do own Sunnie, she is inspired by the toddler, Claire who has just entered the terrible twos and is the best wrestler you'll ever meet. She'll get anyone...ANYONE...on the ground in five seconds flat! (Literally.)**


	3. Chapter 3

I stayed up all night looking through the sketchbook over and over again. Cloud had an amazing talent that he just hid from the world. Of course, there are talents that everyone feels they must hide at times…

Cloud sketched almost everyone in town, my father, his mother, the teachers, Sunnie, himself, and…me…

I shouldn't have been so surprised. Cloud did sketch everyone in town but this…all of this was amazing.

I flipped back to his other sketches. None of them quite had as much detail as the two unfinished girls.

The lighter of the two girls was also the youngest. A small face, with a happy smile, and short light curls surrounding her tiny head. This must be Sunnie.

I flipped to the older girl with the straight, long, dark hair that flopped over into her eyes. Her eyes were turned away from me and she was gazing at something far off. She had her face set into her palms and her mouth set into a calm smile.

There was no way that this could've been me. It was just too pretty. I, after all, didn't spend enough time with Cloud for him to sketch me, nor was he in my class at school, and…wait, did this mean he did this all from he memory? He sure has one heck of a good memory if he did…

* * *

I must've fallen asleep at one point. Father woke me up so I could go to school; he asked me if I was sick because I rarely slept in.

"Nuh-uh…I was studying late last night. Big test today, I'm ready!" I lied. There wasn't even a test this week because of the big tests going on next week…weee…

"Don't let your grades slip, Tifa," he threatened.

"They won't! I _just_ told you I studied all night!"

"I suppose you're right, study up!"

He's so dense sometimes…

* * *

"Hey Cwoud," I giggled, "You left this outside last night."

I was cast this 'Death Stare' as I handed back the book. "Y-you okay, Cloud?" I stuttered, backing away…_slowly_…

"Mmmmm."

The 'Death Stare' turned into the '_Blank-Stare-Of-Doom_.' Before the drool progressed, I snapped my fingers in front of his face. "Cloudo, yoo-hoo Cloudie!"

"Naaa…huh, what?" he asked, finally snapping out of it.

"Dude, what was that all about, you're like 'Evil Cloud' then you're like 'Drunk _Cloud_.' C'mon, what's up?"

"Did you look through my sketches?" He asked turning red.

"I respect your privacy, Cloud," **WARNING: TIFA IS LYING **"I would never look through your sketchbook unless you allowed me to."

"Oh, thanks Tiffs…" He sighed, "I'll show you what Sunnie looks like when I'm done."

"Okay, are you working on anything else in that? Towns, animals, or people?"

"Yeah..." he chuckled, "but not now…I'm only concentrating on finishing up my little cousin now." **WARNING: CLOUD IS LYING **

"Oh, that's good," I laughed, "but what's up with the 'evil' face?"

His face turned back to stone again, "that's not really important now, is it?"

He turned and walked away towards the school building.

I stomped my foot into the yellow dirt. "You're getting as bad as Squall, with your "emotional constipation" nowadays!" I yelled up at him.

"Not interested…" He yelled back without turning.

"That's getting cliché!" I hissed.

* * *

Now, we skip ahead to my teens. Cloud and I never really did get that close. I actually grew out of my crush on him and started crushing on the soldiers that came in and out of here to see the reactor.

I gotta admit, some of those guys in SOLDIER were pretty hot. However, this is only coming from the mouth of a thirteen-year-old girl. I got smarter…eventually.

I knew every inch of Nibelheim and I picked back up with my friends…_hey, I am a sociable girl, don't blame me for not holding a grudge._

I show signs of growing up…"_blossoming_" into a fine young lady…_if you know what I mean_…I got taller, much, much taller than Cloud now, but still…

I get dates now…but they're still like, "play dates" from when you're four. Father is being such an…ugh…

* * *

"You're that much into SOLDIER, huh?" Sunnie asked. For a little kid, she sure could talk. "I like Turks better, but that's just me…"

Ah, she thinks she has all these boyfriends. She wants to marry Cloud when she grows up…Cloud feels awkward about that.

By the way, even though I've changed a bit, Cloud still looks like Cloud. I mean _NOTHING_ has changed. He still seems to avoid me at all costs though…_why_? The world my never know.

"Sunnie…I gotta go…" I mumbled as the glint of silver caught my eye.

"You're gonna spy on those soldiers coming in, aren't you?"

I glanced back from the large silver sword attached to the man's back and back to her, "N-no, I'm not. I just have to go now…that's all."

"Kay, well, I'll tell Cloud you said 'hi' right?"

"Right," I nodded, turning to catch up along with the soldiers.

I never really spoke to the soldiers…nor did I really like their personalities…I just thought…

_Those heroes_. Those men fought to keep peace. I had heard it all before, _heroes to children, protectors of the peace_. They all seemed to be the knight in shining armor to me. One day, I know, a SOLDIER will save me, I just know it.

As I inched closer, the infantryman standing at guard looked at me. I had always thought that those men had somehow become dishonored…not being allowed to show their faces. It seemed kinda sad. He tilted up his chin and I could just barely make out the features. "Hey there," he greeted, with a chuckle. He knocked on his helmet, "this scare you?"

I shook my head, of course. These ordinary soldiers couldn't take their helmets off on the job; it was against the rules or something.

The grunt looked over at the SOLDIER. "Can I?" He begged, "It creeps out the girl." He folded both of his hands as if he were praying, "pleasepleasepleasepleeeeease! Pretty pretty please?" Then he stopped, "plus it's hard to see with this stupid thing on."

"Will you shut up if I let you?" the SOLDIER asked with a grin.

"Yes," he stood with his back straight, "so, can I Angeal?"

"I thought you said you'd shut up."

The grunt snapped back into attention.

"Good," Angeal said as he turned to walk off, "we're just looking at the reactor again anyway."

I glanced back at the infantryman. He glanced back at the SOLDIER. As soon as he seemed out of earshot…

"Of all the idiots on the Planet…I just had to be his apprentice."

"Huh?"

"Meh…" he grumbled, "One day I'll move up. First class!"

"What?" I asked.

"Oh," he laughed, taking off the helmet. "I'm just about to become a second class SOLDIER soon, right now, I have to wear this," he held out the thing that seemed so large for his head. "Here."

He stuck the silver helmet on my head too quickly. The thing was heavy and as soon as it went on it turned everything in my line of vision dull red. Uncomfortable, I took it off and handed it back to him.

"Yeah," he nodded at my expression, "imagine having to wear that five hours a day."

I looked up at him and gasped, the guy was freaking tall for his age. I mean, he could have only been what at the most? Four years older than me, if that? However, what startled me the most was the intense color of the eyes. Honestly, people with jet-black hair like that couldn't have had such bright blue eyes, right? I mean, the eyes were bluer than the sky…that's blue, huh?

"I get that a lot," he grumbled.

"N-no! It's not that you're frightening…!" I insisted.

He shrugged, "I know what you're thinking. And no, I do not, in fact, glow in the dark…that I know of."

"Good to know," I laughed.

"It's the eyes, right?" He stated, looking down at me.

"N-no, not at…yes."

"I knew it!" He chuckled, planting a serious expression on his face, "a true mark of a SOLDIER." He nodded, "_'tis true_…"

"Ah…" I mumbled at a loss for words, "So this is that 'operation' that they speak of."

"Yeah," he groaned, "not really all that painful…it's a reeeeally pointy needle, then a couple days of rest, then dah-dah-dah you've signed a _life_ contract."

"Yes, I suppose after you do that…" I started.

"…Yup, there's no turning back. You stay looking like this for eternity…" he pointed to his eyes, "...I hope I wanna stay with this job."

"Why?" I questioned, putting both of my arms behind my back. Slowly, I found myself sliding my feet in the dirt, and jumping back up.

"Well, duh," he laughed, knocking the helmet, "once you do the Mako…and then you try to get a job with anyone who doesn't like Shin-ra…"

"Oh…" I mumbled, picturing how that would look going into a business interview looking like a soldier, I suppose you do have made quite a big commitment to SOLDIER. "I see…"

"Actually," he chuckled, tossing his charcoal colored hair out of his eyes, "I'm not supposed to have _any_ Mako yet."

"_But_…lemmie guess…" I snorted.

"I'm special," we both stated at the same time. He started to laugh while I tried to keep a serious expression on my face.

I failed.

Both idiotic teenagers (that would be me and the grunt) stood there in the middle of Nibelheim laughing over nothing. Yup, that's a normal day for me.

"Hey, uh…" he lifted a finger and gestured behind me, "somebody wants ya…"

I turned around to meet my brown-haired classmate, "what do you want?" I grumbled.

"Uh, hey. Um…how do I put this…?" he mumbled, poking the inside of his palm, the rest of his sentence came out in a blur, "Cloud wants to see you two nights from tonight, you say yes?"

I was totally and utterly taken back, C-Cloud was asking for me? Well, it probably wasn't such a big deal…Cloud isn't into girls yet. Or…he just can't hold onto a girlfriend. Well, what the heck? Right?

"Yeah, sure, whatever..." I moaned, "But why can't Cloud ask me himself?"

"Uh…" The copper haired boy glanced over his shoulder… "Um…"

"D-Don't tell me!" My new soldier friend snickered, "He's—he's…" He burst out into hysterics…actually, I don't see what's so funny. It's just Cloud, after all…

"Cloud! Get your arse out here!" My classmate yelled, glanced around, and broke off into a run.

"Man, he is fast…!" I told my soldier friend, looking up.

Apparently, "Mr. Third Class" was faster than the other guy…

"Hey, Cloud," I laughed, "the others are gone, will ya come out?"

I turned around and there he was. I shoved a blonde spike away from my eye. "Cloud," I laughed as the spike flung back into place, "how come you're always so shy?"

"Easy," he said shrugging off another tan messenger bag, "That's just how I was raised."

"So, you were raised to play mommie for a little kid?"

He groaned, "Don't bring _that_ into this."

"Sure, sure…Miss Cloud…" My hand flew up to my throat, "Oh, excuse me…_Mrs_. _Cwoudie_."

We both shook that image out of our heads, "I am never going to allow myself to cross-dress again," he groaned.

"Good."

"So…will you meet me in town?" He asked.

"Of course, Cloud. I'll see you there," I assured him, patting his shoulder.

"Okay…thanks," he sighed.

"What for?" I asked, pulling on the ponytail that had always seemed to be on the back of his head. Honestly, I think he was born with it...

"_Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow_…I want to talk to you about…_Ouch_! Will you stop that?!" he shouted.

"Sorry," I murmured.

He grinned, "Its okay, Tifa," he laughed, "just don't do that anymore."

I nodded, but that guaranteed nothing.

"I want to meet you in town to talk to you about something…I can't tell you now…" a pained expression crossed his face, "but I will tell you then, you'd be the first in town to know, okay Tifa? You will come right?"

"Yes, Cloud," I assured, "when have I ever lied to you?"

"Well…there was that one time…"

"That was a rhetorical question!" I snapped.

* * *

**_Yay! I did it! Chapter 3 is up. guys, I am so, so sorry for being so slow with this...I've been very busy and I've been doing this one paragraph at a time...I figured that I had to include the infantryman at some point because he plays quite a big role as a SOLDIER later on. Oh, and we'll talk about Mrs. Cwoudie further on in the story...a very interesting "family role play." (I own none of the main characters nor do I own Nibelheim...but man, do I sure wish I did...Imagine what would happen then, huh?)_**


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